2022 was a great year to drink terrific bottles, some already familiar and others tasted during one of my wife’s and my trips around town, Spain, and the world.
I know that many of my fellow journalists list their favorite wines at the end of the year. I want rather to write about the underlying experience that added to our enjoyment of the wine.
The wines are described in chronological order.
Château Croix d’Allons, AOC Bandol (Fort Lauderdale Florida, USA) January.
A dear friend who lives in south Florida asked me to help him pour at the Seaglass Rosé Experience on the beach in Fort Lauderdale. I was already in Florida so I jumped at the opportunity. It was the first time I had poured wearing shorts and a tee shirt, a de rigueur outfit in this town. The only wines served were rosés from all over the world, attesting to the growing popularity of pink in the USA.
Of course, there were a lot of rosés de Provence at the tasting, but none was nearly as good as the Bandol we poured. Most Provence rosés are great for sipping, but this Bandol had weight in the mouth and a complex aroma.
I had, of course, heard of Bandol but it was an interesting experience to explain the wine to interested consumers. It was so successful that the distributor was able to get it on the exclusive wine list at the Fort Lauderdale Ritz-Carlton.
I’ve tasted a few Bandols since last January but none have been as good as Croix d’Allons.
Ilurce rosado (DOCa. Rioja) the house rosé at El Andén, a bar around the corner from our apartment building in Logroño. January.
Casimiro Somalo, a retired wine and agro-journalist at our local newspaper LA RIOJA, turned us on to Ilurce. He convinced the bar owner to buy a couple of cases, promising him that it would be a hit, which it certainly has been.
Ilurce rosé, a 100% garnacha, comes from Rioja Oriental. Not a pale Provence style. It showed darker color, weight in the mouth and crisp acidity, and more complexity than the typical “bubble gum” sensations one often perceives in a Rioja rosé. This is a great food wine.
Corte Bravi, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2017. Tasted at Cavò 24, Via Pelliciai 24 in Verona, Italy in April.
Verona is one of our favorite cities in the world. Where else can you see an opera in a Roman amphitheater and walk on streets that seem to be paved with marble?
Whenever we go to Verona we stop in front of a plaque on a building in the Piazza Bra. On the plaque is a quote from a famous speech where Giuseppe Garibaldi, the unifier of Italy in the 19th century shouted, “ROMA O MORTE” (Rome or Death) from the balcony of the building. Inspiring. But underneath the balcony, there was another sign that said “Affittasi” (For rent). Maybe a sign of the times?
While wandering through the old town we found Cavò 24, a tiny wine bar. We sat on the terrace, just two tables in a niche on a sidewalk in a narrow street. We LOVE Amarone and always try to drink it whenever we’re in northern Italy. This bottle was spectacular, with depths of aromas and flavors that got better with each sip.
The bar only had one bottle but promised more the next morning. We were waiting when it arrived!
Mauro Godello 2019. Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León. (a gift from Mariano García after a meal at El Torreón in Tordesillas, near Valladolid). Received in June 2021 but tasted in June 2022.
Mariano García is arguably Spain’s most famous winemaker. He spent many years at Vega Sicilia before launching his own brand Mauro in Castilla y León. Mariano has extended the Mauro brand to include a godello, one of Galicia’s (northwestern Spain) signature white varieties. This wine, however, comes from grapes vinified under the Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León designation. Since Mariano seems to have the Midas touch with everything he makes, we were excited to try it.
My wife, a friend and I drank the bottle as part of our 49th anniversary celebration, one year after receiving the bottle. It showed a lot of complexity on the nose and weight on the palate. Like albariño, godello can be aged in bottle so my recommendation is that if you find a bottle, resist the temptation to open it immediately. You will be rewarded by waiting.
Pazo San Mauro (DO Rías Baixas),
Abel Mendoza malvasía 2021
Finca Los Locos Paraje Peñaescalera 2020
Restaurante Íkaro. Logroño. September.
A group of friends enjoyed a memorable lunch at Íkaro, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Logroño during the San Mateo wine festival. The guests included the owners of El Pañol, a top restaurant in Avilés in Asturias. We let Gerardo González, El Pañol’s wine buyer, choose the wines because distributors and wineries offer him thousands of bottles. Gerardo knows what’s good and what isn’t. Other wines he chose were Abel Mendoza malvasía 2021 (DOCa Rioja) and Finca Los Locos Paraje Peñaescalera 2020 from Artuke (DOCa Rioja).
Íkaro is owned and operated by chefs Carolina Sánchez from Ecuador and Iñaki Murua from Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa and as expected, their creations are inspired both by South American and northern Spanish cuisines. Gerardo González’s wine selections matched the cuisine perfectly, making it an unforgettable occasion.
Pazo San Mauro is a part of the Marqués de Vargas group and is consistently one of the best albariño-based wines in Galicia. Whenever we see a bottle on a wine list, we order it.
Abel Mendoza is known as one of the “bad boys” of Rioja, forever questioning the rules and pushing the boundaries. He and wife Maite make spectacular wines and their malvasía is one of my favorites.
Finca de los Locos was a novelty for me. I had heard of Artuke (the abbreviation of Arturo and Kike, the first names of the owners but had only tasted one of their other brands, Pies Negros, in bars around the city. Finca de los Locos was definitely a step up. A few days after the lunch I went to De La Rica, a wine shop in Logroño specializing in village wines and wines made from singular vineyards and bought a bottle.
Angélica Zapata 2018. Malbec Alta from Bodega Catena Zapata. Mendoza, Argentina, October.
I had plenty of opportunities to taste malbec-based wines in Mendoza during the Great Wine Capitals Global Network’s Annual Conference in October. I like them a lot because they are very tasty with black fruit notes on the nose and a complex palate that reminds me of forest floor and blackberries. Malbec is a good wine to drink with an Argentine asado – grilled beef (sadly often overcooked for my taste, since I’m used to aged beef that is seared on the outside and rare inside). But that doesn’t detract from the experience of standing around a table outside at sunset with your friends, a glass of wine, slices of cheeses and steak as well as other meats that make up an asado.
Catena Zapata is one of Argentina’s premier producers and everything they make is worth searching for. They enjoy good distribution both in the USA and Europe so you should have no trouble finding a bottle. Angélica Zapata is one of their top-of-the-range brands.
Ensamble. Valle de Guadalupe (northern Mexico DO) San Ángel Inn in Mexico City. November.
Every time I go to Mexico City, I make it a point to eat at the San Ángel Inn, located a few miles south of the capital. San Ángel is a beautiful Spanish colonial village that has been absorbed into the capital megalopolis. The restaurant is in a building that was once a pulque (an alcoholic beverage made from the sap of the maguey plant) distillery and the site of a famous meeting between Mexican revolutionary leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata where they discussed how they were going to divide up the country between them. As students of history know, it didn’t end well for either of them.
Across the street from the Inn you can visit Diego Rivera’s and Frida Kahlo’s house and studio.
My wife had never been to the Inn. We were one of the first diners to arrive. As we ate and sipped, serenaded by a mariachi band, we watched as a procession of Mexican businesspeople, actors and actresses walked past our table. Toñica was thrilled!
Ensamble, as its name implies, is a complex blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot with touches of petite sirah and barbera. The Valle de Guadalupe appellation of origin and its wines are worth seeking out. For those on the US west coast, Ensenada is just south of the border with California. The area has set up a wine route.
We enjoyed Ensamble with sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup) as a starter. I had a shrimp dish with a chocolate mole sauce, while Toñica ate braised beef tongue on a bed of stewed vegetables with a tomato and spicy pepper base (known as pisto in Spain). Our waiter gave us a funny look when Toñica ordered but she assured him that beef tongue was regular fare in Spain. It was delicious!
Viña Dorana reserva 2017. DOCa Rioja. Bodegas Gómez Cruzado. Tasted at an event at El Calado, an underground cellar in Logroño’s Old Town. December.
Viña Dorana is vinified from tempranillo (60%) and garnacha (40%) from the upper Najerilla valley in the southwestern corner of the Rioja appellation. The Upper Najerilla is quickly gaining recognition for its old vine garnacha, which has a different flavor profile than the garnachas from Rioja Oriental. The winemaker, David González stressed that Viña Dorana was created as a classic Rioja but with ageing in French, rather than American oak. It showed ovely red fruit with high acidity. González pointed out a paradox in the evolution in Rioja winemaking. After evolving away from the classic style, Riojas began to emphasize high alcohol, concentration, and jammy fruit while food was becoming lighter in style. Viña Dorana is meant as a return to a style where a couple can finish a bottle with a meal without tiring their palates.
The tasting was interesting because it was organized as a dialogue between González the winemaker and José Calvo, a dentist and amateur meteorologist about climate change and its effects on the Ebro valley and Rioja. Calvo confirmed that the immediate future would be longer, hotter, drier summers for our region.
Borsao Selección. Bodegas Borsao. DO Campo de Borja. 100 % garnacha. Bought at a closeout sale at one of our local supermarkets.
Fans of Inside Rioja know that I am wild about garnacha. Surprisingly, this wine, the little brother of Borsao’s delicious Tres Picos, was available at a discount and we scooped up every bottle in the store. I had never tried it before. We had a couple of bottles with our Christmas dinner and loved every drop. It has all the character of its big brother with an added dollop of fresh fruit.
Campo de Borja chose to keep its old vine garnachas while nearby Rioja Oriental decided to rip most of it out. This has proved to be a major mistake for Rioja, as pointed out by Álvaro Palacios who has made some spectacular garnachas from his family’s vineyards on the slopes of Mount Yerga near Grávalos. Today, garnachas from Rioja Oriental are taking a back seat to those from the upper Najerilla Valley.
Peña El Gato Natural. 100% garnacha. DOCa Rioja. Bodegas Juan Carlos Sancha. Tasted at a bar (Juan y Pínchame) on calle Laurel in Logroño’s old town. December.
Anything made by Juan Carlos Sancha is a guarantee of an unforgettable experience. He, along with fellow professors Fernando Martínez de Toda and Pedro Balda, was instrumental as the savior of several Riojan grapes on the verge of extinction, notably maturana.
When Sancha inherited his family’s vineyards at altitude near Baños del Río Tobía in the Najerilla Valley, he began to viniofy several plots of old vine garnacha, marketed under the brands Ad Libitum and Peña El Gato. His latest venture is a natural wine (i.e. with no added sufites).
Sancha says that to allow the wine to develop without adding sulfites, the grapes are allowed to ripen longer on the vine. The added alcohol protects the wine from spoilage.
My wife and I walked into Juan y Pínchame on Logroño’s calle Laurel to have their signature tapa, a skewer of grilled shrimp and pineapple. We were pleasantly surprised to see a panel on the wall advertising “high expression” Riojas that were served with a Coravin. We decided to choose Peña El Gato Natural, and it was a great glass.
This wine has apparently been available for several vintages. However, unless you’re a wine writer or a distributor, it’s not easy to find. I applaud the initiative of the bars in Logroño’s Old Town that offer these specialties by the glass. By doing this, the wines can gain a following by “ordinary” consumers as well as please wine writers passing through our area who can’t taste all the wines from Rioja’s 600-plus wineries, especially the wines from up-and-coming producers. I took advantage of that with several US journalists who recently visited our region and they were pleased to sample these wines.
Inside Rioja 